A family in Bangladesh appears to have no fingerprints due to a genetic mutation so rare it is thought to affect only a small number of people in the world.
Apu Sarker, 22, and the men in his family share the condition which leaves the pads of their fingers smooth and devoid of the unique ridges that make up fingerprints, the BBC s Mir Sabbir reported.
Where having no fingerprints caused few problems for Sarker s grandfather, the same can t be said decades later.
Fingerprints are now used for everything from passing through airports to opening smartphones.
In Bangladesh, providing fingerprints is also a necessary step in applying for National ID cards, passports and driver s licenses.